There are nine candidates seeking five open four-year seats on the Northwestern Lehigh School Board.

Eight of the candidates – Leroy Sorensen, Todd Leiser, John Casciano, Ronald Morrison, Joseph Reiter, Willard Dellicker, Gregory Laub and Joseph Fatzinger – have cross-filed on the Democrat and Republican sides of the ballot.

Charlene Rauscher is running on the Republican ballot.

Four of the candidates – Morrison, Reiter and Sorensen, and Dellicker – are seeking to retain their seats on the board.

Morrison says he wants to continue doing what started four years ago when he was elected to the board. Before that, he attended meetings as a citizen to be aware of what was being done and why there were tax increases.

"We have to rein in some spending unless it is being done for the students or necessary facilities work, Morrison says.

He is on the policy committee, interscholastic activities committee, strategic planning committee and is now on the curriculum committee.

"Over the last three years, I feel I have contributed my understanding of the financial processes and budgeting," Morrison says. "There are a lot of things board members have to contribute because of their abilities

"The district has made changes in the fund balance and there have been no tax increases as spending has been reined in.

"Stabilization funds were set up so if an increase is needed the funds are set aside. We have been very frugal."

Morrison says he wants to be sure everything is transparent and encouraged video recording of all meetings.

He recorded board meetings and placed them on NW Cares, a private website people soon became familiar with by word of mouth.

Morrison admits there have been some contentious issues.

"But our curriculum is bringing up test scores," he explains. "Testing should reflect what students learned so they better understand what they were taught."

He supports athletics and the Makers Club, which began with 43 students attending the first meeting.

"There are a lot more kids involved in technology," he says. "Our kids are phenomenal at figuring how to do things and do well in state competitions.

"I support programs that increase knowledge."

A balance has to be maintained between students, staff, administration and the district, he explains.

Morrison has a degree from Lehigh Carbon Community College in information technology. He is fluent in software languages and participated in the merger of First National Bank of Allentown, American Bank and Central Bank of Philadelphia.

He did accounting, budgeting and accounts payable for all the branches. He spent five years at Bethlehem Steel and went to Air Products. He retired from UGI Utilities.

"I think we have one of the best school districts in Pennsylvania," he says. "I thank the people in the district for letting me serve and making the district better."

Morrison has three children who graduated from Northwestern and a daughter is still attending school there. He has been married 26 years.

Reiter says he wants to finish some projects the board has already started.

"It is the fifth year without a tax increase," he explains.

Before he became a member of the board, he attended meetings to hear what was being said.

"The board wanted to raise taxes more than was needed to meet the budget," he says. "I believe in education and that includes vo-tech.

"Our team is pretty good but oversight is needed for things like construction projects. We will fix what wasn't done right.

"Sometimes the experts that are hired aren't that good. We each have a certain little niche."

Reiter says some people blame Lehigh Career and Technical Institute for pulling the school down, but he doesn't believe that.

"Performance is good now. Curriculum is good," he says. "We've added math, statistical analysis and engineering.

"These are important even in industry."

Reiter worked at Ransome Cat and several dealerships and learned math and physics are important. When he was with the company he also learned heavy equipment and diesel technology were important.

When he retired, Reiter had Ransome donate equipment to LCTI.

He also worked at Upper Bucks and Berks career and technical schools.

Reiter served on a Caterpillar Emphasis Committee at Penn College at Williamsport, now part of Penn State.

Ransome Cat asked him to open a store for equipment for the Marcellus Shale trade.

Reiter says as he had a hunting cabin in the area, that was easy for him to do.

His special interest is to get a tax rebate for low-income residents. He says Parkland and East Penn already do it and Northwestern should also as a way of letting people keep more of their money.

"There might not have been support for a rebate but it is coming sometime," he says.

Reiter says he has been in many houses and sees how the low-income people live.

"We are not spending down the fund balance," he says. "We started a millage stabilization fund so we can backstop any tax increases.

"I hope Harrisburg comes up with funding for schools."

He says the board should not concern itself with things like sports.

"We need to take care of academics first," he says. "The Pennsylvania Department of Education predicts enrollment will be down to 1,700.

"We need to be diligent to provide the best education".

As a fleet management buyer and human resources person, Reiter says he hired vo-techers and co-op workers from several area schools.

"Not everyone is going to college, so they need the alternate training," he says. "We are trying to be fair with everybody.

"School health care is head and shoulders over what many people get."

Reiter, a combat veteran of the Vietnam war, says he learned leadership skills as a sergeant.

His two children graduated from NWL and are attending Penn State.

LeRoy Sorensen says he wants to continue being an advocate for the entire community and student body.

"What I see is a need to have an elected representative working for the taxpayers, a board that would base decisions on complete and correct information," Sorensen says. "I am not a rubber stamper. I won't give in to the peer pressure of the status quo.

"I bring oversight by putting forth expectations and standards based on factually correct and complete information.

"One of my goals four years ago was to improve the quality of education for all students.

"There has been an increase and growth in PSSA standardized testing scores. We have the highest average combined SAT scores of all public schools in the Lehigh Valley for 2014.

"We have not cut any academic programs and continue to have small class sizes. There have been no teacher layoffs.

"I am on the Lehigh Career and Technical Institute education advisory board. I support and encourage LCTI programs.

"In 1976 I graduated from the carpentry program and today I am a competent, self-employed business man in the construction industry.

"This background has proven helpful as a board member."

Sorensen provided an example:

"I fixed a leak on the high school roof no one else could find," Sorensen said. "I led the charge against taxes paying twice for improperly installed concrete.

"I believe contractors should be held accountable and taxpayers should not pay for poor workmanship.

"I've been on the recreation commission that oversees the public park for about eight years.

"I initiated and oversaw work on drainage problems on seven ball fields at a savings of $180,000 doing work bid at $245,000 for $64,000.

"I helped advance Night in the Country by solving the problem of getting volunteers. Some groups are now given a set sum to go toward a nonprofit as a form of payment for volunteering.

"We have increased transparency over previous boards by posting information and agendas on the web.

"We increased public comment time and meetings are broadcast live on the Internet."

Sorensen says school property taxes need to be controlled.

"There has not been a tax increase in the last four years," he says. I believe it is sustainable.

"Because of the majority of our present board, we have a funding surplus," Sorensen says. "I believe there has not been a revenue problem but a spending problem. An example is spending $4,000 for six, waiting-room chairs.

Sorensen says it is projected the student body of 2,400 will go down to 1,700.

"We need to start now to solve the financial impact of what this means to our district," he says.

Sorensen, who has three children in Northwestern schools, has been married for 28 years.

" It is not only for my three children but I care about all the children and future generations," Sorensen says. "I would like to see an affordable, sustainable system for generations."

Rauscher, an attorney, is running on the Republican ticket in the primary.

A fiscal conservative, Rauscher says her priority will be to serve the interests of the taxpayer.

"I will make judicious and informed decisions on their behalf – while furthering the educational needs and opportunities of the Northwestern Lehigh School District students," Rauscher stated via email to The Press. "I am the only non-incumbent candidate who has consistently attended school board meetings to gain a working knowledge of the important issues facing our district from the operating budget involving fund balance sustainability, PSERS, building renovations, outsourcing services, and collective bargaining negotiations - to educational matters involving student achievement, testing standards, and the changes associated with Common Core."

Dellicker says Casciano, Fatzinger, Laub, Leiser and himself have aligned themselves because they can bring about changes in the district.

He says their commitment is to careful financial planning and conservative budgeting and they will focus on academic excellence by supporting curricula and programs to prepare students for academic and career success.

Laub says schools need the flexibility to deliver a curriculum reflecting community values and priorities and he brings objective decision making and vision along with collaboration skills gained as an educator.

Laub, says schools can be both innovative and frugal but realizes decisions made now will affect children's success.

Fatzinger says he has experience working with unions and his area of expertise is construction.

His sports-related activities include serving as NWL's junior varsity baseball coach for 12 years and junior high football coach for two years.

He has two sons in district schools.

Casciano, a retired Pa. state trooper, says he is familiar with security and would like to see that expertise put to use.

He and his wife have two children attending Northwestern Lehigh.

Leiser is a senior vice president of Business Intelligence, Rodale, for 18 years.

He says serving as a board member would be a natural progression as he wants to give back to the community in which he was raised.

He wants more diversification of offerings for the kids and looks forward to learning as a board member.

Married, Leiser has two children in district schools.